BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 149: with you, i'm always ready

"Of course you're wrong, you silly-" Jieun pouted. "I just wanted to talk about how I felt... since I met Kim Taehyung today and he gave me some ideas."

"Urgh, that hyung-" Jungkook scoffed. "What ideas did he put in your head this time...?"

"I was just thinking..." Jieun hesitated. "Perhaps we could go public with our relationship."

There was a long pause on Jungkook's end.

"You wanna go public?" Jungkook hesitated. "I thought we talked about this before."

"But things have changed since then, hasn't it?" Jieun pursed her lips, fiddling with her fingers once more. "I used to be a nobody, but now I'm someone the public knows. Firstly, it makes it even harder for us to date outside without getting caught. Secondly, perhaps people will be more accepting of us, now that I'm more compatible with you."

Jungkook didn't speak for a quite a while.

"You don't remember how badly Jennie was cussed out for 'dating' me back then, do you?"

"I do, of course I remember-" Jieun sighed. "But I just thought that maybe that still wouldn't be as bad as when they came to my company to make a huge fuss for me supposedly dating you and all that back then-"

"You really wanna go public with our relationship?"

"I-" Jieun pursed her lips. "No, I was just thinking about it. Like... if we dated openly, do you think things would be better than the way they are now? If so, that's what I want. Either way, the general public will have to find out eventually. It's just a matter of sooner or later."

"I suppose you're prepared for what's to come when you say that then-" Jungkook inhaled sharply. "You know it won't be easy for neither you nor me, right?"

"I know-" Jieun swallowed. "I didn't really want to talk to you about this right now, since you're still busy with concert prep and stuff. But after talking to Taehyung, it was just something that popped into my mind - like, perhaps we could date openly after you're done with the concert. So... yeah, that's where my headspace is at right now. I also wanna know what you think."

Jungkook thought for a while.

"I'm fine with that."

"You are?" Jieun furrowed her eyebrows as she sat up straight on the couch. "You really are?"

"You know what my qualms are-" Jungkook sighed. "I've told you how I felt before. I don't care what people say about me on the Internet - all I care about is that you, Lee Jieun, are safe. That's all that matters to me."

Jieun's heart swelled.

"There has been dating rumours between us circulating the Internet for a long time now," Jungkook continued. "I've seen really nasty things being said about me... but I literally do not care. As long as you can take it, there's nothing I'm afraid of. Let's do it, Lee Jieun. Let's hold on tight to each other and take the leap of faith."

"You'll really do that with me?"

"Mm, of course-" Jungkook's smile was evident in his voice. "Who else could I possibly do this with?"

-•-•-

<ONE MONTH LATER>

"Ya! Ahn Hyejin-ssi!" Hoseok yelled as he fiddled with his camera, trying to rush. "Can you hurry up? Kim Chungha is already waiting outside for us!"

"I'm hurrying!" Hyejin yelled back as she tied her hair in a bun while waiting for the printer to finish with the documents. "Chill, we still have time!"